Sympathy is not what they're after

“…Public sympathy was likely to fade after many of the protesters waved the red Tamil Tiger flag.”
-Bev Oda, Minister of International Co-operation, Sun Media

As protesters waved red Tamil Tiger flags in the air, their message was misconstrued.
Their efforts were not to radiate what Bev Oda calls sympathy but to generate action. They were demanding the Canadian Government intervene and help put an end to the war.
The people of Tamil are at a point of desperation. For decades the people have been at conflict with the government and innocent civilians have been murdered in a war that is beyond their control.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are extremists who claim to fight against genocide, oppression, and state terrorism pursued by the Sinhala-dominated Sri Lankan government. Although this group fights for liberation and independence of the people, their methods are violent, and thus have been declared a terrorist organization in 32 countries.
Although the Tiger flag was raised, million’s of Tamils stay neutral and choose not to support this organization nor the government. They support the people and what they were asking for was not sympathy. Sympathy is a feeling of pity or sorrow for those suffering, pity is insulting. Sympathy will not put a country at peace nor will it generate positive change. Sympathy is a feeling not an action. It can come with the day and be forgotten by night.
What the Tamil protestors want is something permanent and tangible. They want help. Sympathy is not what anyone is after- it is productivity.
Perhaps their protesting measures were extreme but so is the situation. Their country has been in turmoil and devastation for over a quarter of a century and at last they refuse to be silenced.